Camelot Audition Sides R2
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Camelot Audition Sides The Aerospace Players Mon Oct 23, Wed Oct 26, Call-backs (as needed) Thurs 27 October 2011 General Auditions (Sides 1,2,3,5,8,11,12) Side 1 (Dinadan, Lionel, Merlyn) Setting: Afternoon on a Hilltop near the Castle at Camelot. There is a large tree with great branches reaching high and out of sight, and a small hillock beyond the tree. A light snow is falling. SIR DINADAN is standing on the hillock, peering through a crude telescope into the distance. Around him can b seen Ladies and Gentlemen of the Court, arranged decoratively. DINADAN (A pompous young lord, easily astonished, suddenly quite astonished) My Sainted Mother! The carriage has stopped! Someone is getting out. A lady. LIONEL Are you sure it's her carriage? (MERLYN enters. He is a rococo figure of a man, with a huge pointed hat; flowing, heavily embroidered robes; and the legendary apparel of wisdom-a long white beard) DINADAN It's pure white. The horses are pure white. It's plainly and obviously a bridal carriage. (He rushes to MERLYN) Merlyn, here's a calamity. Guenevere's carriage has halted below the hill. MERLYN I know. I remembered she would. DINADAN But it was officially arranged for her to stop here at the top of the hill. Royal brides are always greeted atop the hill. What should we do? MERLYN Dunce! Sound the trumpet, assemble the Court and march to the bottom. DINADAN (Stunned) It's wildly untraditional. MERLYN I hereby proclaim from this time henceforth that all new queens shall be met at the foot of the hill. There! A brand-new tradition! Does that solve it? DINADAN (Placated) Sound the trumpet! We shall greet Lady Guenevere at the foot of the hill in traditional fashion. Side 2 (Arthur, Merlyn) Setting: Afternoon on a Hilltop near the Castle at Camelot. There is a large tree with great branches reaching high and out of sight, and a small hillock beyond the tree. A light snow is falling. GUENEVERE's arrival – for an arranged marriage to the young Arthur – is imminent. As we see him here, ARTHUR is young, boyish, and impetuous. ARTHUR (Frustrated by his own discomfort) Merlyn, why have you never taught me love and marriage? MERLYN Don't scramble them together that way. They are two different things. Besides, I did give you a lesson once, but your mind was, as usual, elsewhere. You had better heed me well from now on. I shan't be here long. ARTHUR Why not? MERLYN I've told you, I'm due to be bewitched by a nymph named Nimue, who will steal my magic powers and lock me in a cave for several centuries. ARTHUR Nimue! Fiddlesticks! Whenever you're displeased with me, you threaten with this creature Nimue. MERLYN It's not a threat; it will happen. ARTHUR When you know she is near, change yourself into a bat. (At his most youthful and charming) Merlyn, do you remember when I was a boy and you changed me into a hawk? What a feeling, sailing through the air! For old times' sake, do it again. Right this minute. One last soar through the sky. MERLYN So you can soar through the sky to her carriage and see her through the window? No. ARTHUR (Furious) Merlyn, there are times when I insist that you remember who I am. Make me a hawk, or I'll have your head cut off. MERLYN It's you who keep forgetting who you are. Think of the joy you've brought to Camelot. A radiant young princess, never before out of her castle, come by treaty to bring peace between peoples. A royal marriage. A new Queen. And where is the King? Swinging in the trees. Thank heaven History never knew. Thank heaven Mallory and Tennyson never found out. Thank heaven your people are not aware of your behavior. Now go back to the castle, my boy. At once. (He exits) ARTHUR (Rebelliously) My people indeed! As if they give a thought to what I'm doing tonight. (Shouting his defiance) Oh, good and loyal subjects of the Crown, are you really peering up at the castle with a question mark in each eye, churning to know how stands the King on his bridal eve, throbbing with curiosity about the King's humor on his prenuptial night? (Defeatedly) Yes, you are. That's precisely what you're doing. Every last, blessed one of you. Side 3 (Arthur, Guenevere) Setting: Afternoon on a Hilltop near the Castle at Camelot. There is a large tree with great branches reaching high and out of sight, and a small hillock beyond the tree. A light snow is falling. GUENEVERE has arrived, has just sung “The Simple Joys of Maidenhood,” and ARTHUR has been secretly watching her from his hiding place in the tree. A branch cracks, and ARTHUR drops to the ground. GUENEVERE, startled out of her wits, runs. ARTHUR A thousand pardons, Milady. Wait! Don't run. (She stops in the corner of the stage and looks at him coweringly) Please! I won't harm you. GUENEVERE You lie! You'll leap at me and throw me to the ground. ARTHUR (Amazed, protesting) I won't do any such thing. (He takes a step toward her. She takes a step backwards. He stops) GUENEVERE Then you'll twist my arm and tie me to a tree. ARTHUR But I won't. GUENEVERE Then you'll sling me over your shoulder and carry me off. ARTHUR No, no, no! I swear it! By the Sword Excalibur! I swear I won't touch you. GUENEVERE (Hurt) Why not? (Sudden rage) How dare you insult me in this fashion. Do my looks repel you? ARTHUR No. You're beautiful. GUENEVERE Well, then? We're alone. I'm completely defenseless. What kind of a cad are you? Apologize at once. ARTHUR (At once) I apologize. I'm not certain what I've done, but from the depths of my heart, I apologize. GUENEVERE (With sudden wisdom) Ah! I think I know. You heard me praying. ARTHUR I couldn't help it, Milady. You prayed rather loudly. GUENEVERE And you know who I am. ARTHUR You're Guenevere. GUENEVERE Yes, of course. You're afraid because I may be your Queen. That accounts for your respectful, polite, despicable behavior. ARTHUR Milady, I would never harm you for any reason. And as for what to do with you, I'm at a loss. I know you are to be Queen and I should escort you back to your carriage. At the same time, you're a maiden in genuine distress. It's chivalry versus country. I can't quite determine which call to obey. GUENEVERE (Looking off toward the foot of the hill) You'd better decide quickly. They'll soon reach the carriage and discover I'm gone. Then all of Camelot will be searching for me. At least that will be exciting. Unless of course everyone in Camelot is like you and they all go home to deliberate. ARTHUR (Thrown off balance, enamored, captivated, and overcome by a great sense of inadequacy) Oh, why isn't Merlyn here! He usually senses when I need him and appears. Why does he fail me now? Side 5 (Pellinore, Dinadan, Guenevere) Setting: A garden near the Castle. It is lush with the green of spring, and fountains are playing among the trees. GUENEVERE and her Knights and Ladies, all in various shades of green, white and gold, are indulging choreographically in spring games. Amidst all this gaiety, PELLINORE, an old, weathered, rather confused, yet chamring fellow wearing rusty armor enters. PELLINORE Forgive the interruption. Anyone here seen a beast with the head of a serpent, the body of a boar and the tail of a lion, baying like forty hounds? DINADAN (Cowing forward) On your knees, Knight. (Indicating GUENEVERE) You are in the presence of Her Majesty Guenevere, Queen of England. PELLINORE (To GUENEVERE) Oh, really? Howdyado, Your Majesty. Will have to forego the bending. Beastly hinges need oiling. Been sleeping out for eighteen years. Do forgive, what? Know it isn't proper, but there you are. I'll be with you in a minute. (Removes helmet) Oh, it stopped raining. GUENEVERE (Amused) Who are you, Milord? PELLINORE Name of King Pellinore. May have heard of me, what? What? What? (He looks around for recognition, which he does not receive) No matter. (To GUENEVERE) You say you haven't seen a beast with the head of a serpent, the body of a boar GUENEVERE Please, I beg you, don't describe it again. It sounds much too revolting. We have not seen it. PELLINORE Called the Questing Beast, what? The Curse of the Pellinores. Only a Pellinore can catch her; that is, or his next of kin. Family tradition. Train all the Pellinores with that idea in mind. Limited education, what? GUENEVERE What? PELLINORE What? By the way, where am I now? GUENEVERE Don't you know? PELLINORE Haven't the foggiest. (A few members of the Court laugh. PELLINORE is now a little angry) Oh, very easy to laugh, what? But nothing jocular about it to Yours Truly ... always mollocking about after that beastly Beast. Nowhere to sleep, never know where you are. Rheumatism in the winter, sunstroke in the summer. All this horrid armor that takes hours to put on. Then sitting up all night polishing the beastly stuff ... But I'm a Pellinore, amn't I? It's my fate.